UJET, a startup that wants to speed up customer support, raises $25M led by GV

UJET, a startup that makes software to improve customer support, said today that it’s raised a $25 million Series B led by GV (formerly known as Google Ventures). Other participants in the round include returning investors Kleiner Perkins and DCM Ventures and new backer Citi Ventures.

The round brings UJET’s total raised so far to more than $45 million. The San Francisco-based startup (which is not to be confused with an electric scooter company of the same name) will use the capital to scale its business and open a New York office next month and its European Union headquarters in the second quarter of this year.

UJET’s software lets customers reach support agents directly in a smartphone app, on the web or by phone. Anand Janefalkar, founder and chief executive officer of UJET, says the company gives equal priority to all channels, so customers get the same quality of service whether they start an in-app chat or call an 1-800 number.

At the beginning of a chat or call, support agents are given data about customers so they don’t have to ask basic questions. For example, Janefalkar says an Internet of Things app developer might provide its agents with the customer’s device type, battery life, location and device ID to help them troubleshoot errors. To protect information, UJET is SOC 2 Type 2 and HIPAA certified and agents can also verify the identity of customers with their fingerprint, passcodes and Apple’s Touch ID and Face ID.

The company says that its tools can help companies significantly reduce the amount of money they spend on customer support. For example, UJET claims that it helped parking reservation app SpotHero cut its telephone expenses in half and reduce the cost of training its agents. Its other clients include Blink, the smart home security camera maker owned by Amazon, and video doorbell Ring.

Other startups that have recently raised large rounds of funding to make customer support less painful for everyone involved include Intercom, which according to Crunchbase has received $115.8 million so far from investors like Bessemer Venture Partners and Social Capital, and Helpshift, which has raised $38.5 million from Nexus Venture Partners, Intel Capital, Microsoft Ventures, Salesforce Ventures and others.